Beginning
by starlight.moon.princess
Summary: Destroying insecurities and building a relationship takes time. The fact that it comes right after a war, and that one of the people involved in the relationship has been bitten by a werewolf just makes it take longer. / SeamusLavender and the start of a relationship in three related one-shots.


**For the Camp Potter Challenge (Week 1 Archery - write about someone waiting); the If You Dare Challenge (113. Once In A Blue Moon); the Legendary Gods and Goddesses Competition (Fuujin); the Three Part Series (Seamus/Lavender - A Full Moon) and the Popular Song Competition (I Cry).  
**

_For Emma - I don't tell you how much I appreciate you nearly enough, so think of this fic as an "I love you."_

* * *

"I'm afraid you were bitten by Greyback."

And just like that, her world shattered.

"He wasn't transformed. We don't know if the bite will affect you at all."

It's a waiting game, counting down the days to the full moon.

_Was she a monster now?_

* * *

_Knockknocknock_

She refused to open the door. Hermione and Parvati could get in without her needing to open the door, and just because McGonagall had decided that they were old enough not to have to worry about the charms keeping the boys out of the girls' dorm, it didn't mean that Lavender had to socialise with them.

Besides, no one knew what to say to a possible monster.

The silence kills her. Harry, Hermione and Ron try to talk to her, to reassure her that everything will be fine, but even with them the conversation is always about the bite.

There was a reason that Parvati and Padma are the only ones she was willing to talk to anymore. They were the only ones who would talk to her about things that aren't that bloody bite.

She could hear the door opening. Hermione must have decided that she was being too antisocial.

Hermione really needed to stay out of Lavender's business.

"Lavender? Are you okay?"

She had thought that the silence was the worst. Obviously, she was wrong.

It was just like Hermione to let the one person she had been studiously avoiding into their dorm.

"What is it Seamus?" she called out, knowing full well that it would be impossible to pretend not to be there.

"Hey," Seamus said as he walked up to her, smile lighting up his face at the sound of her reply.

His smile broke her heart. There was no way that that smile was for her. Girls who would most likely become werewolves in a week and a half weren't lucky enough to have smiles bestowed upon them by gorgeous heroes of the war.

"Hello Seamus," she said dully.

"Why in Merlin's name are you upset? Voldemort's dead, it's a beautiful day, and besides, if I calculated my days right, we're supposed to go to Hogsmeade today!" He sounded so annoyingly happy to someone in as bad a mood as she was. And Hogs-

"Seamus, we'd decided to go to Hogsmeade before everything happened. You don't need to force yourself to go with me just because you promised me in the Room of Requirement – I don't plan on going there anyways."

She'd completely forgotten the words they'd exchanged before the Final Battle, the fact that Seamus had asked her to Hogsmeade on a date once the town was restored and that she'd agreed.

Well, not forgotten, just supressed. Remembering it would just break her heart even more.

The possibility of Seamus and her had been destroyed by Greyback nearly a month ago.

"Why on earth would I be forcing myself to go with you?" Seamus asked her, sounding genuinely confused.

"Haven't you heard?" she asked, laughing mirthlessly. "I'm a week and a half away from becoming a monster."

"Stop being idiotic!" Seamus exclaimed, sounding unusually upset and on the verge of losing his temper. "You're not a monster! From what I hear, there's a higher possibility of you remaining human during the full moon than turning. And even if you did turn, you're still you, not a monster!"

"There's no guarantee that I won't turn, is there?" she asked. "And just in case you hadn't noticed, a monster is _exactly_ what the world thinks of werewolves as."

"Yes, well, I'm not exactly the world, am I?" Seamus demanded. "I've seen a werewolf before, and so have you! And there's no way that you can tell me that Professor Lupin was a monster! It's not even been a month since the Finale Battle – once people start talking to the papers and the true stories of both the survivors and the dead start coming out, no one else will think that werewolves are monster either!" he continued heatedly.

"I appreciate the support, Seamus," Lavender told him truthfully. "But the status of werewolves in our society notwithstanding, it doesn't mean that you're willing to date one. And I'm not about to force you to do something that you don't want to."

"Yes well, you don't know what I feel do you?" he asked her bluntly. "I can promise you that the only reason I want to take you to Hogsmeade is because I want to, and nothing else. Not pity, not as a way to get you out of the shell you seem to have retreated into, but because I want to. Now, will you come with me?" By the end of his speech, Seamus had gone from passionate to looking at her with hopeful eyes.

However, she still hesitated.

"It's like you said," she murmured half to herself, "There's a likely chance that I won't turn into a werewolf. But if I do, you might change your mind then."

"Lav-"

"No, just hear me out," she said, cutting him off. "I'll be more than happy to go to Hogsmeade with you – but only after the full moon. You have to know exactly what you're getting into, and apart from that, if you decided that you don't want to date me _after_ we've gone on our first date, it'll just be all the harder on me. So, are we agreed?"

He looked hesitant to acquiesce to her demands, but he also knew that she wasn't about to change her mind.

"Fine," he said reluctantly. "But after the moon, you have to promise me you won't argue about it anymore."

"I promise," she murmured.

And that was that.

* * *

Only it wasn't.

_One week._

It was like the little mental countdown in Lavender's head had become three times as loud after her discussion with Seamus.

"I love you Lav, you know that. I know exactly why you're so worried. But it's _Seamus_! The boy who's been in love with you since the Yule Ball, the person who loved you even while you were dating Ron Weasley! There's no way anything's going to change that!"

"Parv-"

"Nope!" Parvati said, holding up a finger to quieten Lavender. "Nuh-uh! You don't get to talk – you're arguing privileges were taken away when you decided to become stupid and self-sacrificing and well, _Harry_. _What were you thinking_?"

"Parv, if he changes his mind after the moon, it will _break_ me. I can't- I was just protecting myself," Lavender said, her voice small and miserable.

"Lav-" Breaking off in the middle of her statement, Parvati pulled her best friend into a tight hug, whispering over and over again that it would all be okay.

She just prayed that she was telling Lavender the truth.

_Half a week._

"If you break her heart, I promise you we will kill you Seamus Finnegan," Padma said as she stared the boy down, Parvati and the girls of the DA at her side.

At the death glares, Seamus cowered. "I don't plan on doing anything of the sort!" he exclaimed. "I'm well on my way to falling in love with her, why would I break her heart? That would be like breaking my own heart!"

Fighting every instinct to coo at the declaration, Parvati leaned in close to whisper menacingly. "You better hope that's true," she said, "Because I promise you this much – you don't want to deal with us when we're upset." At that, she turned and stalked away, the other girls following her.

Just as Seamus was sure that the worst had passed, Hermione turned around to throw him one last glare. Suddenly, he had an uncontrollable urge to draft his will.

_Three days._

"You aren't going to transform, Lavender," Hermione said. "Fenrir Greyback wasn't transformed when he bit you. That means only a few werewolf genes, if any, have entered your system. At worst, you'll be more aggressive during the full moon, and will have a craving for raw meat on the day before and after the moon."

"I know that Hermione, but you can't say that for sure," Lavender said. "I just need to be sure that even if I transform, he'll still be there at my side."

"Well, if he isn't than he's an idiot," Hermione said firmly. "You're a beautiful person, and becoming a werewolf isn't about to change that fact."

"Thank you," Lavender murmured, surprising herself by pulling Hermione in for a hug. "And I'm sorry about Ron," she apologised.

"It's okay," Hermione laughed as she hugged her back. "That was just Ron being an ass. Thankfully, he's changed a bit a bit since then."

"Yeah, a _bit_," Lavender joked, eyes dancing with amusement. "You still haven't told me how the two of you finally got together!"

_A few hours._

"It's all going to be okay, Lav," Seamus said as Lavender approached the Room of Requirement. It had been specially 'required' for her tonight, and the teachers had warded the area around the Room to make sure that no mistakes happened. "Nothing's going to change my mind about dating you, I promise."

"I hope you still say that in the morning."

"Lav, wait." And before Lavender could walk away from Seamus, he pulled her into his arms and pecked her lightly on the lips. "_Nothing_ is going to change my mind," he said firmly.

_Five minutes._

She still couldn't believe that Seamus had kissed her. Maybe, just maybe- she couldn't start thinking like that, it was a sure way to get her heart broken.

Besides, there were other things she had to worry about. There were only a few minutes left until moonrise.

_Five._

The tension.

_Four._

It was killing her.

_Three._

What if she turned?

_Two._

How would she handle it then?

_One. _

She could already see the eyes full of fear and-

_Zero._

Nothing.

_Nothing._

She hadn't turned!

She couldn't believe it. All that worry for nothing.

She, Lavender Brown, was _not_ a werewolf.

As soon as that hit her, she burst into uncontrollable laughter, tears streaming down her face. She just couldn't believe that she wasn't the monster she had been so afraid that she was!

She couldn't wait to tell everyone, Parvati, Padma, Hermione, Seamus- _Seamus_! She had to tell him first, had to let him know how happy she was that he had stuck by her and that she'd be more than to go to Hogsmeade with him as soon as possible.

She rushes out of the Room, intent on getting to Gryffindor Tower as soon as possible.

She never makes it there. Instead, she stumbles upon Seamus, asleep against the wall. He's been waiting outside the wards since she went in.

And the sheer _devotion_ and _love_ makes her want to cry.

What could she have done to deserve this man?

"Seamus?" she whispers as she bends down to wake up him up.

"Hmm?" he murmurs questioningly as he forces himself awake. "What hap- _Lavender_!"

And then she wrapped tightly in his arms as squeezes the life out of her.

"See?" he cries, "I _told_ you nothing would happen, didn't I?

And as soon as she's out of his arms, she looks up at him shyly and says, "Is that Hogsmeade offer still standing? Because if it is – I'd love to go with you."

If asked later, she wouldn't be able to tell you how it happened. But suddenly, she's in his arms again, only instead of hugging her, this time his lips are on hers. And it's nothing like the short, comforting peck he gave her before she went to face her fate and everything like she always imagined it would be and she can't stop laughing when he pulls away.

"Come on," he bends down to whisper in her ear. "Let's go tell everyone the good news."

And maybe the last month should have been the worst month of her life, with the unending wait and fear, but with Seamus by her side, she cannot help but think that it was all worth it if this was her reward.

* * *

**There are going to be two more parts to this. I hope you guys liked it!  
**

**Please don't forget to R&R :)**


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